MANATEE -- Philip Colandro was at the Thunder by the Bay Motorcycle Festival in Sarasota Jan. 6 when he and a friend decided to leave early to miss the heavy traffic of bikes leaving later that night.
But as Colandro headed east on University Parkway at about 10 p.m., a 2010 Chevy van ran a red light at U.S. 301 and slammed into his Harley Davidson. His friend was also struck.
When his wife, Sarah Colandro, was notified of the accident, she was only two blocks away.
“Unbelievable,” Sarah said. “Both of their bikes were destroyed.”
Colandro, 66, is still at Blake Medical Center’s intensive care unit recovering from his serious injuries. His wife has been by his hospital bed since the near-fatal accident.
“Doctors didn’t expect him to make it through the first night or the first weekend,” Sarah said.
More than 20 units of blood were tranfused into Colandro. During his first week at Blake, he underwent three surgeries. And there are more to come, Sarah said.
Last week, he regained consciousness, but Colandro only has occasional moments of clarity where he remembers who he is. The worst part, Sarah said, is having to explain to him, time and time again, why he’s at the hospital.
“Most of the time, he’s been living in a dream world,” she said.
Colandro’s friend was also seriously injured in the crash and was recently placed in rehabilitative care.
In 2010, 120 motorcyclists were injured and five were killed in traffic crashes in Sarasota County. In that same year, 10 motorcyclists were killed and 111 injured in Manatee County, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Sarah and Philip Colandro have been together since 1988 and married in 1994.
Philip has always been an avid biker, his wife said. He owns two bikes: the Harley Davidson destroyed in the accident and a custom bike Colandro built that has won several awards.
At least 50 trophies are kept at the Colandros’ home in Manatee County, Sarah said.
But Sarah said she and Philip’s friends never thought he would get hurt.
“They can’t believe it happened to him,” Sarah said. “He doesn’t ever drink and drive... he’s extremely careful about who he rides with.”
Candace Lynn Dotson, the driver of the Chevy that caused the Jan. 6 accident, was charged with failing to obey a traffic control device (running a red light), according to a Florida Highway Patrol report.
Before retiring about two years ago, Philip was an architect in a Sarasota firm. The couple moved to Manatee County about 10 years ago from Washington, D.C.
“He’s the youngest 66-year-old on the planet,” Sarah said, adding that he belongs to two gyms.
Sarah works as the director of interior design at Fawley/Bryant in Sarasota.
But since the accident, the firm gave her a laptop so she can work from her husband’s hospital room.
“I’m thoroughly exhausted,” Colandro said. “This is definitely not an experience I wish on anybody else.”
To help the Colandros with Philip’s recovery, a trust fund was set up at Wells Fargo Bank, 303 9th Street West in Bradenton. To donate, call the bank at 941-526-1120.
